Open University Campuses Do Not Have to Be a Security Nightmare

By Ginger Hill

Jun 11, 2014

Addressing the seemingly oxymoron that university campuses are meant to be open and not feel guarded so that students can build their own culture as they grow educationally while being safe and secure, a recent panel discussion at the SANS Security Leadership Summit in Boston, “Lessons Learned from Higher Education,” was conducted and panelists actually agreed that this is possible.

Panelists included:

Larry Wilson, CISO, UMass, moderator;

David Escalante, director of computer policy and security, Boston College; and

David Sherry, CISO, Brown University.

Panelists recognized that it is impossible to assume that everything on a university campus will be completely protected, but that shouldn’t stop universities from using security technologies to help ensure safety, especially security tools that are automated. The goal is not to be looked at as dictators over employees or students.